Oscar-nominated short films are heading to local theaters

By Al Alexander/For The Patriot Ledger

Tuesday

Feb 6, 2018 at 3:19 PM

From a schoolyard bully to a schoolhouse shooting, this year’s bundle of Oscar-nominated shorts offer a variety of themes and subjects holding up a mirror on these turbulent times. Divided into animated, live action and documentary categories, these 15 offerings range from the silly “The Eleven O’Clock,” about confused shrinks, to ripped-from-the-headlines dramas like “Heroin(e),” about the nation’s opiate menace. But what they all share is a passionate, loving approach from their writers and directors. So here’s a quick look at what you can expect from the nominated films (ranging in length from 5 to 40 minutes) available Friday in local theaters:

ANIMATED

DEAR BASKETBALL: In case you didn’t know Kobe Bryant plays -- and loves -- basketball, he’s written and narrates this beautifully illustrated short in which he expresses his feelings for a game that brought him fame and riches. Directed by Glen Keane and scored by John Williams, the film is just a tad self-serving and ego-maniacal on Bryant’s part. And even though it’s no slam-dunk, dare try looking away. I bet even Shaq would approve. Grade: B-

GARDEN PARTY: Illogic (a French-based collaborative of six writer-directors) proves Woody Allen’s theory that the world is one giant restaurant with its clever tale about nature taking its course in the opulent backyard of a big-time mobster. Tony Soprano, eat your heart out; or, in this case, a mess of ravenous frogs might eat it for you. Did someone say croaked? Grade: B

LOU: This year’s Pixar entry, written and directed by Dave Mullins, tells a funny, ultimately moving story of a grade-school bully who receives an overdue comeuppance. Of the five nominees, it’s the one with the biggest heart -- and the best chance to win. Grade: A

NEGATIVE SPACE: Packing a suitcase has seldom been more stirring than it is in Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata’s stop-motion tearjerker about a son’s favorite memory of his now-deceased father. Grade: B+

REVOLTING RHYMES: The film most likely to give “Lou” a run for its money is this solid 29-minute gem based on author Roald Dahl’s funny, fractured blend of Snow White and Little Red Riding Hood. Directed by Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, it’s a computer-animated delight in which a vengeful Big Bad Wolf, three piggish piggies and two fairy-tale BFFs engage in bits of larceny, house-wrecking and murder – all set in witty rhyme. Grade: A-

DOCUMENTARY

EDITH+EDDIE: Director Laura Checkoway introduces you to the nation’s oldest interracial married couple, ages 95 and 96. But what starts out as a cute and charming profile of geriatric newlyweds quickly takes a sad turn when the woman’s daughter tries to split them up and sell their Virginia home, all in an effort to claim what she thinks is her rightful inheritance. Grade: B

HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405: A fistful of antidepressants and a deft hand with papier Mache bring a modicum of internal peace to Mindy Alper, a 58-year-old Los Angeles-based artist still reeling from a childhood ravaged by mental illness. Frank Stiefel directs with a deft hand in crafting a work that effectively ranges the emotional spectrum. Grade: A

HEROIN(E): You can’t fault director Elaine McMillion Sheldon for her timeliness in providing insight on the opiate epidemic that’s devastating the country in general and West Virginia in particular. With camera in hand, she follows the day-to-day activities of a fire chief, judge and missionary as they attempt to attack the deadly scourge in the city of Huntington, the self-described heroin capital of the world. It’s insightful, but the resulting film is a bit too antiseptic and derivative of those ride-along TV shows like “Boston EMS” to have a chance of winning. Grade: B-

KNIFE SKILLS: Thomas Lennon, a four-time nominee and past winner for “The Blood of Yingzhou District (2007),” stakes a persuasive claim on a second Oscar for his moving account of the inner workings of a snazzy French restaurant in Cleveland that’s owned and operated entirely by ex-cons. The entrees look delicious, but it’s the backstories and struggles of the paroles to stay straight that make this meal so satiating. Grade: A

TRAFFIC STOP: Kate Davis directs a look into the Black Lives Matter movement through the eyes of Breaion King, a 26-year-old school teacher caught on police dash cam being roughed up by a white cop twice her size in Austin, Texas. The passive-aggressive racism of the arresting officers – also caught on tape – is appalling. Grade: B+

LIVE ACTION

DEKALB ELEMENTARY: A normal day at an Atlanta-area school takes a dramatic turn when a student (Bo Mitchell) enters the office armed with an automatic weapon. What ensues in writer-director Reed Van Dyk’s fact-based nail-bitter is riveting in its depiction of a scared but compassionate school staffer (a terrific Tarra Riggs) using kindness and understanding to convince the boy to put his weapon down and surrender to police. Grade: B+

THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK: As the only comedy in the bunch, this entry by director Derin Seale and writer Josh Lawson certainly sticks out. But it’s not the Abbott and Costello-type humor as much as it is the wonderful word play that holds your interest, as the filmmakers put you in the room with two shrinks (Lawson and Damon Herriman), one of whom is the doctor and the other the patient. Ah, but which one is which? Dare I say you’ll go crazy trying to figure it out? Grade: B.

MY NEPHEW EMMETT: Kevin Wilson Jr. revisits the infamous 1955 murder of Emmett Till in the Jim Crow South. Only this time it’s told through the eyes of the teen’s preacher uncle, Mose Wright (L.B. Williams), who’s held at gunpoint by his nephew’s abductors as they whisk the boy (Joshua Wright) away, never to return - all because he whistled at a white man’s wife. The story is certainly disturbing, but the film never delivers the emotional slam dunk you’d expect. Grade: B-

THE SILENT CHILD: Rachel Shenton wrote and stars in director Chris Overton’s somewhat trite tale about a young tutor hired to help draw a deaf 4-year-old girl (Maisie Sly) out of her shell by teaching her sign language. But the girl’s workaholic mother (Rachel Fielding) comes between them when she suspects her daughter loves her doting teacher more than her. Grade: B-

WATU WOTE: If I had a vote, this fact-based story from Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen would be my pick for its simple, but profound, depiction of a group of Muslims risking their lives to protect a handful of Christians being targeted for execution after their bus is stopped in Kenya by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab. Grade: A-